Natural History

Currently, there are two species of raccoon with which there is no controversy about their status.

No one argues about the validity of their species status.

The one we know the best is the northern or common raccoon (Procyon lotor), which is native to North America from Canada to Panama, and the southern or crab-eating raccoon (P. cancrivorus).

The northern raccoon is the species that has been introduce to Europe, Japan, and the Caucasus. It’s the one that everyone knows.

I have already used the crab-eating raccoon as a trick question for an identify the species query. The reason why I used it is the only real difference between a crab-eating raccoon and a northern raccoon is that crab-eating raccoons don’t have a very thick coat. They are quite short-haired, as one might expect from a tropical species.

The two species have an overlapping range in southern Central America, and it would be interesting to see if there were any studies on how the two specie interact. Can they interbreed? Does one species dominate the other?

However, as a rule, I don’t use the same species twice for the identify the species posts.

So I didn’t use the crab-eating raccoon for this question.

Instead, I used a species whose status is both threatened and controversial

The creature above is a Cozumel or pygmy raccoon (Procyon pygmaeus).  As both of its names suggest, this raccoon is very small, weighing only 6 to 8 pounds, and it is found only on Cozumel Island off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. It is part of the state of Quintana Roo, and I’ve actually been there.

I didn’t see any raccoons, though.

There is some debate over the validity of this species. It is very similar to the northern raccoons, which are also found on the Mexican mainland, but it is significantly smaller.

Most authorities list it as a valid species, even though traditionally, other insular forms of northern raccoon have been listed as subspecies.

However, this one is still regarded as a unique species.

The Cozumel raccoon is thought to have been separated on the island from the mainland population when the island became separated from the mainland. The raccoons who wound up living on the island evolved to be much smaller than those on the mainland, a good example of insular dwarfism. Molecular clock analysis, which can be quite problematic in itself, suggests that Cozumel raccoons diverged from the mainland population 26,000 and 69,000 years ago.

The question of whether we should regard this raccoon as a distinct species is further complicated with the simple reality that this Cozumel population is quite endangered. It is considered critically endangered by the IUCN.

That, of course, gives us a reason to recognize it as a distinct species.

Like the Island fox, the species status of this animal is complex.

I think one can make a better case for this animal than the island fox, of course.  There is actually a Cozumel gray fox that has been on that island longer than the Island foxes have been on the Channel Islands, but no one regards it as a unique species. (However, it may actually already be extinct, so we really don’t know.)

Cozumel raccoons have been isolated long enough that they are quite prone to canine and feline diseases and parasites. Those are certainly taking a toll on the Cozumel raccoons. Some of these parasites are being introduced by cats, which were never common on the island until recently, and thus, cats are causing conservation problems with this species as well.

The animals also happen to live where developers want to expand. Cozumel is a major tourist attraction. Lots of cruise ships stop by, and lots of Anglo-Americans vacation there.

My guess is these raccoons, like their mainland relatives, can live within developed areas, but I don’t think they can put up with increased disease and parasite pressure and increased development at the same time.

There are only 250-300 of these racccoons left.

And they might not make it.